Improving the success of culturing Helicobacter pylori from gastric biopsies

Factors influencing the successful isolation of Helicobacter pylori from hu man gastric biopsies were studied. Within 24 h, each of the gastric biopsie s was inoculated onto chocolate blood agar media and incubated for up to 2 weeks. Among 63 (70%) culture positive cases in 90 patients, 58 (64%) cases were culture positive for both specimens, while five (6%) cases were cultu re positive in only one biopsy. Of the 63 positive cultures, 51 H. pylori s trains (81%) grew on both media with and without antibiotics. Eight strains (13%) grew only on medium without antibiotics, while four isolates (6%) we re obtained only from medium with antibiotics. These results support the pr evious histological observation of patchy colonization of H. pylori in the stomach. The success rate for culture of H. pylori from gastric biopsies in creased when two biopsies were taken and inoculated on chocolate blood agar media with and without antibiotics.